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Jakarta sees tight competition for 2024 legislative race
From cabinet ministers to celebrities, more than 300 legislative candidates in the capital city are competing for only 21 seats at the House of Representatives. While deep pockets and fame play an important role in the election, an analyst predicts that incumbents will have a lead in the competition thanks to their established positions in the country's legislative body.
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Motorists pass by 2024 elections campaign banners in Jakarta on Dec. 19, 2023. Residents have protested against the installation of campaign banners in public facilities, arguing that it was visual pollution in public spaces. (Antara/Rivan Awal Lingga)
The capital city of Jakarta is expected to see fierce competition among bigwigs and other legislative candidates competing for only dozens of seats at the House of Representatives during the 2024 legislative election voting day on Feb. 14.
According to data from the General Elections Commission (KPU), there will be 373 legislative candidates competing for votes from 9.9 million eligible voters from Jakarta and overseas. They will contest 21 out of 580 seats in the House.
The capital city is split into three electoral districts: Jakarta I with six seats covering East Jakarta, Jakarta II of Central Jakarta, South Jakarta and overseas voters (seven seats) and Jakarta III comprising North Jakarta, West Jakarta and Thousand Islands regency (eight seats).
Incumbents are in the spotlight in each electoral district, competing for another term in the country’s legislative districts. Jakarta II sees the most incumbents with seven candidates, while the other two districts have six each.
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The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which currently holds the largest share of House seats among other parties with 128, has six incumbents running in the city, including Charles Honoris who is currently the deputy chair of House Commission IX, which oversees labor and health affairs.
The oft-considered opposition party the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) registered five incumbent candidates, such as former People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid and another Commission IX deputy chair Kurniasih Mufidayati.
